Considering Screen Readers when Creating Links
Click here to learn more about Kent State University.
Screen readers literally read every word on the screen. If the proceeding text is a hyperlink, the screen reader will say “Link” before reading the text. In the
example above, the screen reader would say “Click link here to learn more about Kent State University. This might cause confusion for the reader.
By clicking this link, you can learn more about Kent State University.
Screen readers will not realize that they are repeating the same word when they describe the link. Thus, the sentence above would read, “By
clicking this link link, you can learn more about Kent State University.
Click on the link titled “go” at the end of this sentence to learn more about Kent State University. Go.
Although this may appear to be giving screen readers the right information, it is too wordy and can be confusing. The sentence above would read,
“Click on the link titled “go” at the end of this sentence to learn more about Kent State University. Link. Go.
Click on www.kent.edu to learn more about Kent State University
By using the actual text to the hyperlink in the sentence, the user of a screen reader is able to determine what the link is for. However, lengthy or
confusing links, such as http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/kent-state-university-3051 are confusing when read aloud
and don’t truly give meaningful information. Lengthy links should be avoided.
Visit the Kent State Homepage to learn more about Kent State University.
This link succinctly informs readers of its destination, is not too wordy, and gives enough information for screen readers. The sentence would read,
“Visit the link Kent State Homepage to learn more about Kent State University.
Lastly, screen readers are used to quickly navigate around websites or documents that contain a great amount of text. Screen readers will pull
up a list of all active links on a webpage or in a document so the blind/low vision user can quickly assess which links they need to visit.
Review the photo below.
The screen reader pulled a list of all of the active links within the document. They are listed as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Here
Link
Go
www.kent.edu
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/kent-state-university-3051
Kent State Homepage
A student who is blind or has low vision, who is listening to a screen reader to help them navigate a page, would potentially have difficulty
navigating with some of the links above.
To learn more about providing accurate links for screen readers, contact:
Marcie Dimac, M.A. Ed.
Coordinator, Assistive Technology
Kent State University
www.kent.edu/sas
mdimac@kent.edu
330-672-3391